


A Kiss Goodnight

by BigGhost



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Childhood Trauma, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Noct is scared ok, let him be afraid of the dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 06:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12625191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigGhost/pseuds/BigGhost
Summary: Noctis is wounded in battle, and is afraid of falling asleep and facing the darkness again.





	A Kiss Goodnight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fuzzykitty01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzzykitty01/gifts).



> we can all thank fuzzy for enabling me to write angsty shit and listening to me ramble about it

The world slowed down when the daemon slashed his back and threw Noctis to the ground.  He heard his body hit the ground before he felt it in a wave of pain, sparking across him like an electric current as it lit every last nerve.  His body convulsed on the dirt with the struggle to breathe, even as Gladio appeared beside him to help him sit up.  Somewhere in the distance, he heard Prompto’s electric saw tearing away at the monster.

His vision focused in and out, dotted with black stars.  He heard the muffled voices of Gladio and Ignis and vaguely felt Ignis support him as his head lolled back.  “Your Highness!”  He felt his heart in his ears and in his stomach at the same time; suddenly he was eight years old again, surrounded by fire, guards, and his father.

“Noctis!!”

He had to stay awake.  He had to stay...awake..he had...to…

* * *

 

Fluctuating in and out of the world was nauseating.  Noctis remembered the muffled voices of his retinue, and the feeling of being laid on the floor of their tent on his belly.  They cut his clothes, from the sound of it, or perhaps just ripped them.  The shredded clothes peeled away from his back and he felt almost cold.

He distantly heard Ignis yelling.  It felt like he was listening to them through a wall.  Suddenly, he saw Prompto kneeling beside him.  “Hey, buddy,” he made out.  Prompto took his hand and laid on his front next to him, their noses almost touching as Prompto talked to him.  He couldn’t hear much of it, it sounded somewhat like comfort.

“It’s okay, just breathe, Noct,” he whispered.  Was he making noise?  He felt it in his throat, like someone else was controlling his body, and he felt his hand squeezing Prompto’s.  “That’s it, there you go.  We’ve gotcha,” Prompto cooed, “I know it hurts.”

“He’s in fuckin’ ribbons, Iggy!” Gladio shouted.

“I _know_ , Gladio!” Ignis snapped as he pressed the cleanest shirt he could find on Noctis’ back.

He heard the flap of the tent and presumed that Gladio had stormed out.

Noctis’ eyes darted around Prompto’s face and he felt his eyes burn.  His back was beginning to hurt a _lot_.  And his leg.  He couldn’t move it, either.  His mouth opened and closed with each throb of his injury and movement of whoever was touching his back.  “Deep breaths, Noct,” he heard Ignis say.  A deep breath didn’t prepare him for the sting of the potion (judging by the smell) that Ignis poured on his back.

Noctis jerked and yelped, and weakly twisted against them as someone did their best to hold him down.  “Ahh!  Ahahaha...hah…” was all he could do to voice his pain.  Prompto stroked his hairline and pressed his knuckles to his lips.  “I know, I know,” he whispered.

Ignis massaged the potion into the prince’s skin with his bare hands.  The skin moved with his hands, opening and closing the wound like butchered meat.

Noctis was barely aware of Ignis stitching him up.  The needle entered and reentered his skin and tugged at it.  It pinched, but didn’t hurt as much as he expected.  Perhaps his brain (and the potion) had decided enough was enough.

The sharp pain faded into a deep seated ache.  Prompto and Ignis were talking; he nodded and kissed Noctis’ hand, then his head, and said he’d be right back.  Noctis missed the warmth of his hands before he made it out of the tent.

Ignis stayed with him for a moment, draping some potion-laced wet cloths on his back to ease the irritation.  Noctis didn’t move; still couldn’t feel his legs.  Couldn’t feel much of anything, really.

Ignis gently pried his shoes off and set them aside, then helped Noctis lift his head to place a small pillow underneath him.  “Get some rest, I’ll be right outside,” he said, voice smooth like honey and calming like his father.  He exited the tent and Noctis was left alone.

* * *

 

When Ignis went outside, he left out a long and quiet sigh.  There’d been a few times in his life where the rush of adrenaline made an unhealthy mix with anxiety, and this went straight to the top.  Noctis had lost a lot of blood, and he thanked his foresight that he’d brought a suture kit.  He looked at his other two lovers on the edge of the haven.

Gladio was holding Prompto carefully, engulfing him in his size, rubbing his back, and rocking them on their feet as he rested his chin on top of Prompto’s head.  He could hear Gladio talking to him gently.  It was the voice Gladio used when they needed him to be their big brother, their shoulder, and their lover, instead of their big, burly Shield and tank.  “It’s ok, Prom.  He’s gonna be ok.  Iggy’s with him, he’ll be ok.”

Ignis wondered who Gladio was trying to convince.  He cleared his throat and the other two looked up.  Prompto’s face was streaked with tears, and Ignis’ heart went out to him.

“He’s patched up for now, got the bleeding to stop.  We’ll have to be careful about the potion usage, he could end up overdosing.”  Ignis took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes.

“His leg was really messed up, Iggy,” Gladio said as they gathered around their fire.

“Yes, he might not be able to walk.  I don’t think it’s broken, but be careful with it.  For now I think it’s best that we just wait it out.  We can’t afford a hotel to house us for so long, but it seems we have most of the things we’ll need here.”

The haven, at least, was in a convenient area.  It was sizable, and they had plenty of food rations to cook.  The giant pond not far away was a good place to bathe for now.  Staying there would be a bit more roughing than they’re used to, but doable.

“I’m going to go keep him company,” Prompto said quietly as he got up and went into the tent.  Ignis didn’t stop him.  Noctis and Prompto fed off of each other unlike anyone Ignis had ever seen.  When one was hurting, the other was there to help, even if it mostly consisted of cuddling until they felt better.  If their nesting helped Noctis heal faster, Ignis welcomed it.

It was silent for a bit before Gladio put his giant hand on Ignis’ thigh.  “You did good, Iggy,” he said warmly.  Ignis gave him something of a smile and squeezed his hand.  “Thank you.”

When Prompto came back in, Noctis felt a sense of relief.  He didn’t want to be alone right now.  He wanted Prompto to talk to him.

He watched Prompto play King’s Knight for a while, then listened to him talk about whatever came to mind.

Noctis tried to move from his position, but it hurt enough that he moaned quietly in pain before Prompto forced him to settle back down on his belly.  “Your leg is pretty banged up, Noct.  Just let it rest,” Prompto said.  Noctis couldn’t see his leg, but with how much it hurt, he believed him.

Night came and Ignis gave them their dinner, which they ate together.  For a while, Noctis lie with his head in Prompto’s lap as he talked.  Eventually they even settled with putting Prompto’s phone on the portable charger and playing a bad movie.

When Ignis and Gladio came to settle in for the night, Prompto slept beside Noctis.  Noctis faced away from him and hid the bright light of his phone screen as he played King’s Knight well into the morning.

* * *

 

Noctis wasn’t sleeping, that much Ignis knew.

He was healed enough to sit up on his own after the first night.  Ignis noticed then that he was on his phone, probably playing some mindless game, and the bags under his eyes were dark and heavy.  He kept blinking rapidly and looking away from his phone frequently, as if his eyes were dried out from staring at the screen for hours.

He took a break from the phone only when someone was willing to keep him company, typically Prompto.  Gladio helped him move his heavily bruised legs to get some feeling in it when it would fall asleep, which was frequent; the unusual part was how upset Noctis got when they _would_ fall asleep.  He would call or text one of them frantically.

The first time, Noctis had tried to walk it off, but the strain in his bad leg, the one that’d taken the fall the hardest, was too much for his body to handle just yet.  He’d been forced to accept moving from the tent to the foldable chairs around the campfire via Gladio.

Ignis also noticed Noctis’ dozing throughout the day, which was usually when he would begin asking someone to talk to him (“About whatever.  Too quiet.”).

On the second night, Ignis woke up in the middle of the night to find Noctis staring out of the open flap of the tent.  He jumped when Ignis whispered a, “What are you doing up, Noct?” to him.

“I’m not tired,” he replied.

* * *

 

On the third day, Ignis did something he knew he wouldn’t be particularly proud of later, and slipped a sleeping draught that he’d made into Noctis’ lunch when he couldn’t see him.  It was small with only a faint taste, and would take a few hours to work into Noctis’ system.  He would sleep deeply that night.

Sleeping draughts were of riskier nature, teetering on the edges of legality and morality.  Most of Lucis had banned them, and the supplies to make the spell were hard to come by; but he used to use them on himself when he had a particularly hard time sleeping, and he’d brought the supplies to make it along just in case.

Noctis was brought out to the campfire to eat with them when the food was ready.  He seemed to hesitate after the first bite, but kept eating.  Ignis felt satisfied when he ate everything.

Within less than an hour after eating, though, Noctis was throwing the food back up into a bush, helped by Prompto when he stumbled to his feet and tried to throw up _away_ from the haven floor.

Noctis, as Ignis expected, did not sleep that night either.

* * *

 

Noctis broke out into a fever on the fourth morning.  He was nasty and he could hardly move, let alone speak or eat.  But still, he stayed awake, and Ignis began to worry that there was something else that Noctis wasn’t telling them.

“Noctis, you’re burning up, you have to get some rest,” Ignis insisted.

Noctis weakly batted his hand away from his head.  “‘M fine…” he said.

Ignis furrowed his brow, “You are most certainly not fine!  Noctis, you haven’t slept a _wink_ in over three days!”

Gladio shot them a look from outside.  Silently, Ignis hoped that perhaps Gladio could talk some sense into their prince.  “Noct, is that true?  You’ve been nodding off a lot, is that why?  What’s going on?”

Noctis pulled the blanket over his face, but Ignis wasn’t letting him hide away this time.  He would have to crack soon.  Ignis could see it, it was getting harder to stay awake, but Noctis had doubled his efforts and seemed...afraid.

“Noctis, talk to us, we want to help,” he said gently.

“I’m fine, okay!  Leave me alone!” Noctis did his best to sound angry and intimidating, but the scratchiness from his sore throat and tired voice made him sound miserable instead.

Prompto tried next.  “Noct, please, you’re hurting yourself.  Please, just get some sle--”

“I CAN’T!” Noctis yelled, for real this time, and the crack in his voice gave way to the shaking in his body and soft sobs.  “I can’t…” he said again.

Ignis felt his irritation morph into concern.  Noctis reserved his feelings like he was storing them for the winter most of the time.  He rarely openly cried in front of them.  Perhaps the exhaustion was taking its toll on his control.

“Why the hell not?” Gladio pressed, rewarded with Ignis’ glare.  It seemed to make him realize the harshness of his voice and raised his hands in defeat.  “Why not, Noct?” he tried again, gentler this time.

Noctis was silent.

Ignis thought maybe he’d tried ignoring them when he spoke.

“Because if I fall asleep, I might not wake up again.”

Ignis felt his stomach fall and, for the first time in a long time, felt like an utter fool.  How could he not see?

Noctis was terrified.  It made sense now.  The last time he’d been injured and put under bed rest like this, injured and unable to walk, was when he’d been attacked and fell asleep for seemingly one moment, only to wake up to be told that he had slept for months.

The world had moved on without him, while he was stuck in the darkness, alone, scared, and unable to run.  Ignis had been told that Noctis had suffered severe night terrors after that, and had trouble sleeping for a long time.

And...the doctors had probably used sleeping draughts in Noctis’ food as a child to induce dreamless sleeping.  The taste of the spell was faint, but with enough exposure, it was easy to single it out amongst the other tastes.  Noctis had thrown up his food with the knowledge that Ignis had tried the old trick on him.  Guilt and anger at himself settled in his stomach.

Noctis was still crying under his blanket.  “I don’t want to sleep like that again…”

“You’re stronger now, Noct,” Gladio tried.  “It isn’t like it was before.”

“I know that.  But...it’s...it...I…”

Ignis pulled the blanket away from Noctis’ face softly, slowly uncovering him from his soft barrier.  “We won’t let that happen.  We’ll stay with you, for as long as it takes.”

Noctis’ face scrunched up as he cried quietly, the exhaustion so evident on his face that Ignis felt tired just looking at him.  “I know it’s dumb, but I can’t--”

“It’s not dumb.  Look, we’ll even sleep with you.  No good sleep like a dogpile one!” Prompto said excitedly as he leaned in to spoon Noctis from behind, twisting their arms together and pressing his face against Noctis’ back.

Gladio sighed with a shake of his head before he gave Noctis a reassuring smile.  He went outside to put out the fire, then came back in, zipped up the tent to shroud them in the shade, and climbed into the pile behind Prompto.  He stuffed a pillow into his arm and slept on his side to lay his arm protectively across both of his smaller boyfriends.

Noctis looked up at Ignis with tear glossed, bloodshot eyes.  Ignis smiled down at him, and pulled off his jacket, glasses, and gloves to lie beside Noctis.  They shared the pillow, Ignis shuffling into a comfortable position on his side towards Noctis and held his hand where it was free from Prompto’s grasp.

“We’ll be here when you wake up,” he whispered.

Noctis pulled Prompto and Ignis’ hands closer, using his free hand to grab Gladio’s (and reveling in the way his Shield squeezed it back).  His exhaustion was winning, finally.  But now, the darkness that had lingered on the edges of his vision and threatened him on the inside of his eyelids…

It wasn’t so scary when he was surrounded by the people he loved the most.

Slowly, he nodded off and his breathing evened out, almost syncing with Prompto and Gladio’s.  When Ignis was convinced that Noctis was actually, completely asleep, he kissed his forehead and pressed the bridge of his nose against it to join them.

He knew they’d be there when he woke up.

**Author's Note:**

> this took forever for me to write! (￣o￣) went through so many drafts just to do it but i really wanted to get this idea out there! sleep deprivation can rly hurt u, make sure ur sleeping!
> 
> you can find me on tumblr as hamuretu or sugarbath, and discord as hamlette where i usually throw my flaming ideas around like candy~


End file.
